Public-relations war: Dalai Lama vs. China

Has the Dalai Lama, the exiled, Tibetan-Buddhist spiritual leader, lost a round in the high-profile, ongoing public-relations war that has surrounded the recent unrest in his homeland?

That battle is being slugged out between supporters of the free-Tibet movement that opposes control of the Tibetan region by the Chinese and the communist government in Beijing; meanwhile, Beijing has blamed the Holy One and the “Dalai clique” for fomenting the violence that has erupted in Tibet in recent weeks. (On its Website, Xinhua, China’s state-controlled news service, has a subsite entitled “Dalai Clique’s Separatist Activities Condemned,” which offers the Chinese government’s views about the current crisis.)

March 29, 2008: The Dalai Lama bowed during a news conference in New Delhi, India

In Tibet, the head of the Communist Party, Zhang Qingli, “has branded the Dalai Lama a ‘wolf in monk’s robes, a devil with a human face, but the heart of a beast.'” China’s state-controlled media have referred to protesting Buddhist monks in Tibet as the “scum of Buddhism.” (Guardian)

Xinhua has noted that the Chinese newspaper Global Times has dismissed an allegation the Dalai Lama reportedly made at his news conference in New Delhi, India, on March 29. At that time, Xinhua recalls, he made what amounted to a “vicious blemish” on the reputation of the People’s Liberation Army by claiming that some Chinese soldiers had been ordered to dress in Buddhist monks’ robes “and act as rioters on March 14 in Lhasa….” The Chinese government’s response to the violence that broke out in the Tibetan capital on that date has helped stoke the current flames of controversy and debate surrounding the status of the political relationship between China and Tibet. The Xinhua news article responds, in particular, to a summary of the Dalai Lama’s remarks that appeared in the Indian newspaper the Tribune.

March 27, 2008: Last week, a small group of protesters held up a “Free Tibet” sign as the Chinese team arrived for its game against Germany at the World Women’s Curling Championships in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

Rebutting the Dalai Lama’s allegation, Xinhua notes, Global Times “quoted a PLA officer-turned scholar as saying…the rumor attributed by the Dalai Lama was an open contempt of common sense[,] and [that] the Dalai clique assumed that the rest of the world was prone to be duped.” Xinhua cites Ye Xiaowen, the vice chairman of the China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture, who “said the Dalai Lama recently dished out many lies.” Ye “charged the Dalai Lama with hypocrisy on his self-contradictory comments that he has no intention on separating Tibet from China. He also insisted on Tibet’s de facto ‘independence’ half century ago….” Xinhua, still citing Global Times, reports: “As the truth behind the Lhasa riots becomes clearer, the newspaper said, the Western media cannot ignore the compelling opinions on knowing the unbiased and objective stories of the riots and their ripple effect.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, “China accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters…of plotting suicide attacks in the wake of last month’s violent protests in Lhasa. The allegation, which was denied by the Tibetan spiritual leader, came as security chiefs in Beijing claimed monks have been building up arsenals of weapons that could be used to escalate the conflict, which has already claimed at least 20 lives.” A spokesman for China’s public-security ministry “said police had searched monasteries and uncovered 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 7725 pounds of explosives, 19,000 sticks of dynamite and 350 knives.” The government spokesman told reporters: “To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks….They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice.” However, “The Tibetan government in exile denied the accusation, saying it remained dedicated to nonviolent struggle.” (Guardian)